So, the book kicks off where we left off. As you readers may have noticed, I changed the name of the series to the first book's name. Also added some tags and modified the summary. Some of that to garner interest, mostly to let you guys know the actual story is here. Ideally I'd like to get 2-3 big chapters out a week til school season is over.
This story goes out to the 30 followers and 8 favorites who believed in this story enough to be interested.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I opened eyes slowly, feeling sluggish and..pain. I rubbed my head, touched my arms, felt of legs, and checked my body. Everything appears to be working. Okay, next, I need to remember what happened. Umm, my name.....Valgrim. My current job.....Hunter. My last memory.....OH Sh$T Brutus!.
I shot up, taking stock of my surroundings. I was currently on the ground, I can see my companions around me, all also on the ground.
'Brutus, where's Brutus?' I thought frantically. I remembered, Brutus had smashed the hill, and then the world broke. I look at the hill, rather what was the hill. Now, there was a massive hole in the ground. From my angle, I couldn't see the bottom. I was scared, and it takes a lot to scare me. I had survived some of the worst experiences in the tunnels, but they would be pleasant memories if I lost Brutus. We were a team, best friends and I'd be damned to see if go without me.
I shakily got to my feet, almost falling due to my shaking legs. There was no way I could reach him on time to save him on my own. I heard a growl behind me. Girr the bear was up, very agitated. Seeing her, I felt relief envelop me.
"Girr, please help me." I called, "I need to reach Brutus." Girr was the smartest bear I knew, while obviously not sentient, she could understand from the tone of my voice what I needed. She lumbered over to me and threw me with her mouth onto her back. Ignoring the protests from my body, I whispered to her, "Run as fast as you can. We have to save him."
Girr nodded, than sprinted to the crater. Jumping down into it, I looked amazed at the destruction. The Crater was huge, resembling a sphere indention in the ground. At the center, there was a large hole that continued down. If I wasn't so worried, I'd make a joke on how it looked...crap I can't think of a joke I'm panicking.
Reaching the edge of the hole, I heard the terrifying sound of water moving in it. No, not good at all.
"Brutus, if you are alive down there, answer me!" I shouted down the hole. I only hoped I wasn't too late.
---------------
{B}
'Ow...ow...ow. That really hurt.' he thought. He had been dazed by the impact, but now I was regaining my mind. 'Hm, lets go over how I ended up under a rock."
It took Brutus a moment to remember. He had been excited to cause wanton destruction for the job. When he had hit the hill, he did not expect to fall through it, straight into the main Hydra cave. As he had fallen, he had gotten really scared that they would eat him. Then he had hit the ground, and fallen through again, ending up in a small crater. Then some boulders fell on him, leaving him in his current condition.
"Grr, stupid rocks heavy." he muttered, trying to flex his muscles to lift the boulders off of himself. He spent half a minute trying before he heard a noise, which filled him with dread. The sound of rushing water came to his ears. 'I refuse to die while not in combat!' he screamed in his head. Desperate strength filled his limbs as he pushed the boulders off of him. Just in time too, for the water knocked into him, barely not dragging him away.
He checked his surroundings. He was in a tunnel beneath a tunnel, deep under the ground. Water was rushing in from the collapsed stones above and beside him. There was a trickle of light above him, but too high to reach. He was slowly weakening, his strength spent from surviving the impacts and pushing the stone off of himself. "Hmph, not good." he said. Then he heard a faint echoing shout, "Brutus, are you alive?"
Hearing his good friend's voice, Brutus roared in answer. He was very glad to hear his friend, now he had to reach him. The water around him had reached knee level now, with no sign of stopping.
Feeling the start of panic setting in, Brutus looked around the cave for anything that could give him a grip to climb out. There was nothing within reach for him to grab on too, and he was to weak to rage for a boost in strength. Feeling hopeless, he sat down on one of the boulders to consider his options.
Oh yeah, the boulder! Brutus got up, and stacked all the rocks , creating a pile that barely let him climb out of the tunnel to the next level. Remember, these are called boulders because they are the same size as Brutus. As he climbed out, the water level was almost to the top as well.
"Brutus! I'm throwing some magic rope down! Wrap it around your waist!" he heard Valgrim shout. He looked up, watching a rope snake down from the surface hole. It looked like regular rope, but it moved like a blind serpent, seeking his touch. Waiting a few seconds, the rope reached him and he grabbed it. The rope stopped moving, allowing him to wrap it around his waist and tie it. He gave it a tug, and the rope began raising into the air. He was going to live.
{V}
"Come on Girr, pull!" I shouted, working my rope animation magic to assist in lifting the 1.5 tons of friend weight. Girr had the other end of the rope around her, putting her entire weight into pulling the rope. I wiped some sweat off my forehead. Rope animation was fairly simple magic, but it was taking all of my reserves and concentration to pull Brutus up. Thankfully, he was climbing the rope as we were pulling it, so it didn't take as long to get him out.
We all lay on the ground panting. Coughing a bit, I looked over at Brutus, who was resting on his back beside me. "Hey buddy, this reminds me of the coliseum. Remember the looks on their faces when we got out?" Brutus smiled, remembering the escape with fondness, and the death of their former masters with glee. "Heh, couch, heh heh. faces never forget." They shared a laugh, while Girr laid on her stomach, not understanding the situation. If the bear could think, she'd probably think, "Men, sigh."
------
{3nd}
After resting for 10 minutes, they got up and slowly exited The Crater. When they reached the group, they found them recovering with Meridia's potions. Dirrg was jumping around yelling in excitement, "Dat were de best boom I've ever seen! If only me kin could h've been here. I'd tell em, 'See, see what a daughter of de forest helped do'"
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
".......Eh?"- everyone
"I tell them......opps, me cats out of me sack." said the dwarf blushing.
"Um...Dirrg. Didn't you say earlier you were a guy?" asked Valgrim. This was getting confusing. Dirrg did have strange mannerisms for a guy, but definitely did not look like a girl, or a girl dwarf.
"Uh, well, me used to frolic in the smithy as a wee lass. I was a proud dwarf lass, but I made a wee mistake. I may h've disturbed a forest spirit, who took offense at me impressive dwarven scent. Bloody thing cursed me to dis gender and made me a ranger. Me kin were horrified, and threw me out of me home. I've wandered de world searching for another spirit to fix me." Dirrg explained.
So many questions answered. Dirrg was a girl in a guy's body, and a dwarf in a ranger job. No wonder he/she was off, it was a wonder his/her mind could take the abuse of switching to the opposite of what he/she knew.
"Um, so do you want us to call you something else? Valgrim asked. Dirrg shook his/her head. "Me names Dirrg as long as me body is a male. Treat me different, and me ax hill deny ye children." he hefted his broad-ax for emphasis. No arguments were made.
Saharra spoke up, "I hate to interrupt this profound and disturbing revelation, but what happened?"
Valgrim shook his head. "We need to rest, lets talk about the future tomorrow." With the sun going down, they all agreed, setting up camp and falling asleep next to the glow of a fire.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Day 1, Month 1, Year 1]
They got up as soon as 8 hours had passed. After the hour of preparations for the magic users, they were ready to begin. Using his abilities, Valgrim understood the devastation they had caused. Saharra, Scald, and Meridia went into shock learning that there was no way to get home, and most likely their homes were at least damaged from the quakes. It took awhile for them to recover. Valgrim also informed them that in a month, most of the area would be flooded, making a massive lake.
"Since we can't go back, why not make our home here? The area is not populated at all due to the Hydras, we have plenty of resources, and we could look into finding away to get back to the under city." Valgrim proposed.
"If we are going to live here, I want a home worthy of me." Saharra said. Valgrim rolled his eyes, but technically she was the leader of the expedition still. Now, due to the insane wanton destruction, many creatures had died. In this world, people grew in strength from experience, whether crafting a masterpiece or killing a creature. Under normal circumstances, this was acquired slowly and over time. However, so many things died due to their actions that everyone in the group had doubled in strength and power. They were all itching to let their new powers lose, so Valgrim decided this was a good opportunity to burn some energy.
"How about we build a castle." he said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. He continued, "The is a mile in radius hill over that way." he pointed, " It will be the only landmass above the new lake. A castle in a lake would look amazing. We have a month before the water rises to that level, so we can make the bridge from the land to the island."
Scald interjected, "Where would we get the man power? Bridges, let alone castles, require a lot of stone, and we refuse to dirty ourselves trying." Scald nodded, expecting this. "Due to my increased power, I can create permanent stone walls and supports from pieces of granite. You should be able to summon more demons now Scald, use them to mine in the mountains."
Saharra raised an eyebrow, "And who made you in charge little gnome?"
Valgrim shook his head, " I'm not in charge, no what I propose is the start of our own kingdom." he shrugged, "Not like we have anything else better to do now. If we make a castle, might as well go all the way." Shrugs were given by everyone, sounded interesting at least. Valgrim continued, "I propose Saharra be in charge, Scald the head of intelligence, Brutus the head the security, Meridia head of agriculture, Dirrg head of the forest, and I the head of commerce. This way, we all can do what we are best at."
Scald, eyes glowing in malicious excitement, "Ku ku ku, an important position that is worthy of me. But wait, how can we be a kingdom without subjects? Not much to rule when it's only the 6 of us."
Valgrim grew thoughtful. "I have an idea for that, at least a temporary one any way. Dirrg, if you could come with me after this meeting?" Dirrg nodded, looking excited. So far, Valgrim's ideas had involved lots of battle and destruction. "Continuing on, Brutus, why don't you cut some trees and start repairing some of the north most houses in the abandoned town? If you could call some demons to begin mining Scald? I can't think of anything for you two, Saharra and Meridia, but if you could help them, that would be best."
Annoyed, but unable to refute his logic, the four got up and headed off to start working. Brutus headed to the forest to begin cutting wood. Scald went back to the cave where they battled the Hydras to begin mining. The cave had been above ground level, so some of it was still accessible. Meridia went to search for potion ingredients. Saharra joined Brutus, afraid that he might make tacky accommodations to live in.
Meanwhile, Valgrim walked with Dirrg into the forest and sat down. "Dirrg, I have an important request for you." he said staring seriously and deeply into Dirrg's eyes. Dirrg's blush was hidden under facial hair.
'Oh my, did me confession of being a lass at heart awaken ye's heart. Oh me heart isn't ready yet. Oh me poor mmmaidan heart, well maybe a giving a little would be okay' Dirrg thought.
Continuing without being aware of the internal dialogue, Valgrim said, "I need you to bring as many animals as possible to our camp as possible. Why do you look disappointed? Anyway, Bring have them come tomorrow, I will be praying to my god here for the rest of the day."
A little let down, Dirrg agreed. Rangers could talk to every non magical animal, so this was no trouble. He got on Girr, and rode off to find some animals. Valgrim wandered deeper into the woods until he found a small clearing with a stump. He keeled down, and began the longest prayer of his life.
[End day 1]